The Battle of Ngasaunggyan was fought in 1277 between Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty, the principal khanate of the Mongol Empire, and their neighbors to the south, the Pagan Empire (in present-day Burma) led by Narathihapate. The battle was initiated by Narathihapate, who invaded the Yunnan, a province of the Yuan dynasty. Mongol defenders soundly defeated the Pagan forces.

Hostility between the two empires had already been established by that time: when Kublai Khan had sent emissaries to regional powers of eastern Asia to demand tribute, Narathihapate refused the khan's representatives the first time they visited (in 1271), and they were killed by bandits in 1273. When Kublai Khan did not immediately respond to this insult, Narathihapate gained confidence that the Mongols would not fight him, he subsequently invaded the state of Kaungai, whose chief had recently pledged fealty to Kublai Khan. Local garrisons of Mongol troops were ordered to defend the area, and although outnumbered were able to soundly defeat the Pagan forces in battle and press into the Pagan territory of Bhamo, the presence of war elephants initially caused Mongol horses to shy in terror, but Mongol general Khudu (Qutuq) ordered his men to shower the elephants with arrows. The wounded elephants stampeded and destroyed everything in their path; in the end, Mongol troops abandoned their offensive and returned to Yunnan, a province of Yuan dynasty with their wounded general Khudu.

The Battle of Ngassaunggyan was the first of three decisive battles between the two empires, the others being the Battle of Bhamo in 1283 and the Battle of Pagan in 1287. By the end of these battles, the Mongols had conquered the entire Pagan empire and installed a puppet government.

In the end of 1277, Yunnan governor's son Naser ad-Din attacked Bhamo again and tried to establish postal system which had already covered Mongol Empire after defeating enemies. But deadly heat forced him to leave Burma, he returned to Khanbaliq with 12 elephants and gave them to his master Kublai Khan in 1279.[2][3]

The battle was later reported back to Europe by Marco Polo, who described the battle vividly in his reports, his description was presumably pieced together by accounts he heard while visiting the court of Kublai Khan.

1.
Narathihapate
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Narathihapate was the last king of the Pagan Empire who reigned from 1256 to 1287. The king is known in Burmese history as the Taruk-Pyay Min for his flight from Pagan to Lower Burma in 1285 during the first Mongol invasion of the kingdom. He eventually submitted to Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty in January 1287 in exchange for a Mongol withdrawal from northern Burma. But when the king was assassinated six months later by his son Thihathu, the Viceroy of Prome, the political fragmentation of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery would last for another 250 years until the mid-16th century. The future king was born to Crown Prince Uzana and a concubine from Myittha on 23 April 1238. For much of his years, he was known at the palace as Min Khwe-Chi as a harmless royal. Even when his father became king in 1251, Khwe-Chi was not in line for the throne, the position belonged to his half-brother Thihathu, in early May 1256, Uzana died from a hunting accident, and Thihathu claimed the throne. Narathihapate held the ceremony in November 1256. The young king turned out be quick-tempered, arrogant, and ruthless, soon after his accession, he sent Yazathingyan, the man who put him on the throne, into exile. But he soon had to recall Yazathingyan to quell the rebellions in Martaban and Arakan, Yazathingyan put down the rebellions but died on the return journey. With the old ministers death removed the person that could have controlled the ruthless. Narathihapate was incompetent in both domestic and foreign affairs, like his father and grandfather before him, he too failed to fix the depleted royal treasury, which had been deteriorating for years because the continued growth of tax-free religious landholdings. But unlike his grandfather Kyaswa, who would build a small temple than to resort to forced labor, Narathihapate built a lavish temple. The people, sinking under his rule, whispered, When the pagoda is finished, the existential threat to the Burmese kingdom came from the north. The Mongols, who conquered the Dali Kingdom in 1253–57, first demanded tribute from Pagan in 1271–72, when the Burmese king refused, Emperor Kublai Khan himself sent a mission in 1273 to demand tribute once again. Narathihapate sent the army to reclaim the region but the army was back in April 1277 at the battle of Ngasaunggyan. The Mongol troops reached as far south as Kaungsin, which guarded the Bhamo Pass, later in 1278, the army reestablished its forts at Kaungsin and Ngasaunggyan. In 1281, the Mongol emperor again demanded tribute, when the king refused, the emperor ordered an invasion of northern Burma

2.
First Mongol invasion of Burma
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The first Mongol invasions of Burma were a series of military conflicts between Kublai Khans Yuan dynasty, division of the Mongol Empire, and the Pagan Empire that took place between 1277 and 1287. The invasions toppled the 250-year-old Pagan Empire, and the Mongol army seized Pagan territories in present-day Dehong, Yunnan, the invasions ushered in 250 years of political fragmentation in Burma and the rise of Tai-Shan states throughout mainland Southeast Asia. The Mongols first demanded tribute from Pagan in 1271–72, as part of their drive to encircle the Song dynasty of China, when King Narathihapate refused, Emperor Kublai Khan himself sent another mission in 1273, again demanding tribute. In 1275, the emperor ordered the Yunnan government to secure the borderlands in order to block a path for the Song. Pagan did contest but its army was back at the frontier by the Mongol Army in 1277–78. After a brief lull, Kublai Khan in 1281 turned his attention to Southeast Asia, demanding tribute from Pagan, when the Burmese king again refused, the emperor ordered an invasion of northern Burma. Two dry season campaigns later, the Mongols had occupied down to Tagaung and Hanlin, the Mongols organized northern Burma as the province of Zhengmian. Ceasefire negotiations began in 1285, and ended with Narathihapate finally agreeing to submit in June 1286, but the treaty never really took effect as Narathihapate was assassinated in July 1287, and no authority who could honor the treaty emerged. The Mongol command at Yunnan now deemed the imperial order to withdraw void and they may not have reached Pagan, and even if they did, after having suffered heavy casualties, they returned to Tagaung. The Pagan Empire disintegrated and anarchy ensued, the Mongols, who probably preferred the situation, did nothing to restore order in the next ten years. In March 1297, they accepted the submission of King Kyawswa of Pagan although he controlled little beyond the capital city of Pagan. But Kyawswa was overthrown nine months later, and the Mongols were forced to intervene, Marco Polo reported the first invasions in his travelogue, Il Milione. The Burmese referred to the invaders as the Taruk, today, King Narathihapate is unkindly remembered in Burmese history as Taruk-Pye Min. In the 13th century, the Pagan Empire, along with the Khmer Empire, was one of the two empires in mainland Southeast Asia. For much of its history, Pagans neighbor to the northeast was not China but the independent Dali Kingdom and its predecessor Nanzhao, both with Dali as their capital city. Dali-based kingdoms were a power in their own right, at times allying themselves with the Tibetan Empire to their west and at other times with Chinas Tang and Song dynasties. Indeed, Nanzhaos mounted armies ventured deep into what is today Burma and may have been behind the founding of the city of Pagan. Then as now, the borderlands mostly consist of forbidding terrains of high mountain ranges, the Mongol Empire first arrived at the doorstep of the Pagan Empire in 1252 by invading the Dali Kingdom in its attempt to outflank Song China

3.
Yunnan
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Yunnan is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country. It spans approximately 394,000 square kilometres and has a population of 45.7 million in 2009, the capital of the province is Kunming, formerly also known as Yunnan. The province borders Vietnam, Laos, and Burma, Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with high elevations in the northwest and low elevations in the southeast. Most of the lives in the eastern part of the province. In the west, the altitude can vary from the peaks to river valleys as much as 3,000 metres. Yunnan is rich in resources and has the largest diversity of plant life in China. Of the approximately 30,000 species of plants in China. Yunnans reserves of aluminium, lead, zinc and tin are the largest in China, the Han Empire first recorded diplomatic relations with the province at the end of the 2nd century BC. It became the seat of a Sino-Tibetan-speaking kingdom of Nanzhao in the 8th centuryAD, Nanzhao was multi-ethnic, but the elite most-likely spoke a northern dialect of Yi. The Mongols conquered the region in the 13th century, with local control exercised by warlords until the 1930s, as with other parts of Chinas southwest, Japanese occupation in the north during World War II forced another migration of majority Han people into the region. These two wave of migration contributed to Yunnan being one of the most ethnically diverse provinces of China, major ethnic groups include Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai and Miao. The Yuanmou Man, a Homo erectus fossil unearthed by railway engineers in the 1960s, has determined to be the oldest-known hominid fossil in China. By the Neolithic period, there were settlements in the area of Lake Dian. These people used tools and constructed simple wooden structures. Around the 3rd century BC, the area of Yunnan around present day Kunming was known as Dian. The Chu general Zhuang Qiao entered the region from the upper Yangtze River and he and his followers brought into Yunnan an influx of Chinese influence, the start of a long history of migration and cultural expansion. In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang unified China and extended his authority south, commanderies and counties were established in Yunnan. An existing road in Sichuan – the Five Foot Way – was extended south to present day Qujing

4.
Pagan, Myanmar
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Bagan is an ancient city located in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the Bagan Archaeological Zone is a main draw for the countrys nascent tourism industry. It is seen by many as equal in attraction to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Bagan is the present-day standard Burmese pronunciation of the Burmese word Pugan, derived from Old Burmese Pukam. Its classical Pali name is Arimaddana-pura and its other names in Pali are in reference to its extreme dry zone climate, Tattadesa, and Tampadipa. The Burmese chronicles also report other classical names of Thiri Pyissaya, according to the Burmese chronicles, Bagan was founded in the second century AD, and fortified in 849 AD by King Pyinbya, 34th successor of the founder of early Bagan. Mainstream scholarship however holds that Bagan was founded in the mid-to-late 9th century by the Mranma and it was among several competing Pyu city-states until the late 10th century when the Burman settlement grew in authority and grandeur. From 1044 to 1287, Bagan was the capital as well as the political, economic, over the course of 250 years, Bagans rulers and their wealthy subjects constructed over 10,000 religious monuments in an area of 104 square kilometres in the Bagan plains. The city attracted monks and students from as far as India, Sri Lanka, the culture of Bagan was dominated by religion. The religion of Bagan was fluid, syncretic and by later standards, the Pagan Empire collapsed in 1287 due to repeated Mongol invasions. Recent research shows that Mongol armies may not have reached Bagan itself, and that if they did. However, the damage had already been done, the city, once home to some 50,000 to 200,000 people, had been reduced to a small town, never to regain its preeminence. The city formally ceased to be the capital of Burma in December 1297 when the Myinsaing Kingdom became the new power in Upper Burma, Bagan survived into the 15th century as a human settlement, and as a pilgrimage destination throughout the imperial period. The rest—thousands of less famous, out-of-the-way temples—fell into disrepair, for the few dozen temples that were regularly patronized, the continued patronage meant regular upkeep as well as architectural additions donated by the devotees. Many temples were repainted with new frescoes on top of their original Pagan era ones, the interiors of some temples were also whitewashed, such as the Thatbyinnyu and the Ananda. Many painted inscriptions and even murals were added in this period, Bagan, located in an active earthquake zone, had suffered from many earthquakes over the ages, with over 400 recorded earthquakes between 1904 and 1975. A major earthquake occurred on 8 July 1975, reaching 8 MM in Bagan and Myinkaba, the quake damaged many temples, in many cases, such as the Bupaya, severely and irreparably. Today,2229 temples and pagodas remain, many of these damaged pagodas underwent restorations in the 1990s by the military government, which sought to make Bagan an international tourist destination. However, the restoration efforts instead drew widespread condemnation from art historians, Bagan today is a main tourist destination in the countrys nascent tourism industry, which has long been the target of various boycott campaigns

5.
Mongol Empire
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The Mongol Empire existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history. The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of tribes in the Mongol homeland under the leadership of Genghis Khan. The empire grew rapidly under the rule of him and his descendants, the Toluids prevailed after a bloody purge of Ögedeid and Chagataid factions, but disputes continued even among the descendants of Tolui. Kublai successfully took power, but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to control of the Chagatayid and Ögedeid families. The Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 marked the point of the Mongol conquests and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. In 1304, the three western khanates briefly accepted the suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty, but it was later taken by the Han Chinese Ming dynasty in 1368. What is referred to in English as the Mongol Empire was called the Ikh Mongol Uls, in the 1240s, one of Genghiss descendants, Güyük Khan, wrote a letter to Pope Innocent IV which used the preamble Dalai Khagan of the great Mongolian state. After the succession war between Kublai Khan and his brother Ariq Böke, Ariq limited Kublais power to the part of the empire. Kublai officially issued an edict on December 18,1271 to name the country Great Yuan to establish the Yuan dynasty. Some sources state that the full Mongolian name was Dai Ön Yehe Monggul Ulus, the area around Mongolia, Manchuria, and parts of North China had been controlled by the Liao dynasty since the 10th century. In 1125, the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchens overthrew the Liao dynasty, in the 1130s the Jin dynasty rulers, known as the Golden Kings, successfully resisted the Khamag Mongol confederation, ruled at the time by Khabul Khan, great-grandfather of Temujin. The Mongolian plateau was occupied mainly by five powerful tribal confederations, Keraites, Khamag Mongol, Naiman, Mergid, khabuls successor was Ambaghai Khan, who was betrayed by the Tatars, handed over to the Jurchen, and executed. The Mongols retaliated by raiding the frontier, resulting in a failed Jurchen counter-attack in 1143, in 1147, the Jin somewhat changed their policy, signing a peace treaty with the Mongols and withdrawing from a score of forts. The Mongols then resumed attacks on the Tatars to avenge the death of their late khan, the Jin and Tatar armies defeated the Mongols in 1161. During the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century and it is thought that as a result, a rapid increase in the number of war horses and other livestock significantly enhanced Mongol military strength. Known during his childhood as Temujin, Genghis Khan was the son of a Mongol chieftain, when he was young he was from one of Yesugis orphaned and deserted families, he rose very rapidly by working with Toghrul Khan of the Kerait. Kurtait was the most powerful Mongol leader during this time and was given the Chinese title Wang which means Prince, Temujin went to war with Wang Khan. After Temujin defeated Wang Khan he gave himself the name Genghis Khan and he then enlarged his Mongol state under himself and his kin

6.
Yuan dynasty
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The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan, was the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. His realm was, by point, isolated from the other khanates and controlled most of present-day China and its surrounding areas. Some of the Mongolian Emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others used their native language. The Yuan dynasty is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and an imperial Chinese dynasty and it was the khanate ruled by the successors of Möngke Khan after the division of the Mongol Empire. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song dynasty, the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, yet he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu. In addition to Emperor of China, Kublai Khan also claimed the title of Great Khan, supreme over the other khanates, the Chagatai, the Golden Horde. As such, the Yuan was also referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan. However, while the claim of supremacy by the Yuan emperors was at times recognized by the khans, their subservience was nominal. In 1271, Kublai Khan imposed the name Great Yuan, establishing the Yuan dynasty, dà Yuán is from the clause 大哉乾元 in the Commentaries on the Classic of Changes section regarding Qián. The counterpart in Mongolian language was Dai Ön Ulus, also rendered as Ikh Yuan Üls or Yekhe Yuan Ulus, in Mongolian, Dai Ön is often used in conjunction with the Yeke Mongghul Ulus, resulting in Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus, meaning Great Mongol State. Nevertheless, both terms can refer to the khanate within the Mongol Empire directly ruled by Great Khans before the actual establishment of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1271. Genghis Khan united the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the steppes and he and his successors expanded the Mongol empire across Asia. Under the reign of Genghis third son, Ögedei Khan, the Mongols destroyed the weakened Jin dynasty in 1234, Ögedei offered his nephew Kublai a position in Xingzhou, Hebei. Kublai was unable to read Chinese but had several Han Chinese teachers attached to him since his early years by his mother Sorghaghtani and he sought the counsel of Chinese Buddhist and Confucian advisers. Möngke Khan succeeded Ögedeis son, Güyük, as Great Khan in 1251 and he granted his brother Kublai control over Mongol held territories in China. Kublai built schools for Confucian scholars, issued paper money, revived Chinese rituals and he adopted as his capital city Kaiping in Inner Mongolia, later renamed Shangdu. Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols

7.
Mongol invasions and conquests
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Mongol invasions and conquests took place throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire, which by 1300 covered much of Asia and Eastern Europe. Historians regard the destruction under the Mongol Empire as results of some of the deadliest conflicts in human history. In addition, Mongol expeditions brought the plague along with them, spreading it across much of Asia and Europe. The Mongol Empire developed in the course of the 13th century through a series of conquests and invasions throughout Asia, thus most Mongol conquering and plundering took place during the warmer seasons, when there was sufficient grass for the herds. Tartar and Mongol raids against Russian states continued well beyond the start of the Mongol Empires fragmentation around 1260, elsewhere, the Mongols territorial gains in China continued into the 14th century under the Yuan dynasty, while those in Persia persisted into the 15th century under the Timurid Empire. In India, a Mongol state survived into the 19th century in the form of the Mughal Empire, genghis Khan forged the initial Mongol Empire in Central Asia, starting with the unification of the Mongol and Turkic confederations such as Merkits, Tartars, and Mongols. The Uighur Buddhist Qocho Kingdom surrendered and joined the empire and he then continued expansion of the empire via conquest of the Qara Khitai and the Khwarazmian dynasty. Large areas of Islamic Central Asia and northeastern Iran were seriously depopulated, each soldier was required to execute a certain number of persons, with the number varying according to circumstances. For example, after the conquest of Urgench, each Mongol warrior – in an group that might have consisted of two tumens – was required to execute 24 people. Hungary became a refuge after the Mongol invasions for fleeing Cumans, one thousand northern Chinese engineer squads accompanied the Mongol Khan Hulagu during his conquest of the Middle East. The Yuan dynasty created a Han Army out of defected Jin troops, the Mongol force which invaded southern China was far greater than the force they sent to invade the Middle East in 1256. The Mongols greatest triumph was when Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in China in 1271, the top-level government agency Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs was established to govern Tibet, which was conquered by the Mongols and put under Yuan rule. The Mongols also invaded Sakhalin between 1264 and 1308, likewise, Korea became a semi-autonomous vassal state and compulsory ally of the Yuan dynasty for about 80 years. The Yuan dynasty was overthrown during the Red Turban Rebellion in 1368 by the Han Chinese who gained independence. Kublai Khans Yuan dynasty invaded Burma between 1277 and 1287, resulting in the capitulation and disintegration of the Pagan Kingdom, however, the invasion in 1301 was repulsed by the Burmese Myinsaing Kingdom. The Mongol invasions of Vietnam and Java resulted in defeat for the Mongols, the Mongols invaded and destroyed Volga Bulgaria and Kievan Rus, before invading Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, and others. Over the course of three years, the Mongols destroyed and annihilated all of the cities of Russia with the exceptions of Novgorod. When we were journeying through that land we came across countless skulls, the Mongol invasions induced population displacement on a scale never seen before in central Asia as well as eastern Europe

8.
Mongol conquest of the Qara Khitai
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The Mongol Empire conquered the Qara Khitai in the years 1216–1218 AD. Prior to the invasion, war with the Khwarazmian dynasty and the usurpation of power by the Naiman prince Kuchlug had weakened the Qara Khitai. When Kuchlug besieged Almaliq, a city belonging to the Karluks, vassals of the Mongol Empire, the hunters turned Kuchlug over to the Mongols, who beheaded him. Upon defeating the Qara Khitai, the Mongols now had a border with the Khwarazmian Empire. After Genghis Khan defeated the Naimans in 1204, Naiman prince Kuchlug fled his homeland to take refuge among the Qara Khitai, the Gurkhan Yelü Zhilugu welcomed Kuchlug into his empire, and Kuchlug became an advisor and military commander, eventually marrying one of the daughters of Zhilugu. However, during a war with the bordering Khawarzmian dynasty, Kuchlug initiated a coup détat against Zhilegu, after Kuchlug took power, he allowed Zhilegu to rule the Qara Khitai in name only. When the Gurkhan died in 1213, Kuchlug took direct control of the khanate, when Kuchlug besieged the Karluk city of Almaliq, the Karluks, vassals of the Mongol Empire, requested aid from Genghis Khan. The two armies traveled alongside each other through the Altai and Tarbagatai Mountains until arriving at Almaliq, at that point, Subutai turned southwest, destroying the Merkits and protecting Jebes flank against any sudden attacks from Khwarazm. Jebe relieved Almaliq, then moved south of Lake Balkash into the lands of the Qara Khitai, there, Jebe defeated an army of 30,000 troops and Kuchlug fled to Kashgar. Taking advantage of the unrest fomenting under Kuchlugs rule, Jebe gained support from the Muslim populace by announcing that Kuchlugs policy of persecution had ended. When Jebes army arrived at Kashgar in 1217, the populace revolted and turned on Kuchlug, Jebe pursued Kuchlug across the Pamir Mountains into Badakhshan in modern Afghanistan. According to Ata-Malik Juvayni, a group of hunters caught Kuchlug and handed him over to the Mongols, with the death of Kuchlug, the Mongol Empire secured control over the Qara Khitai. The Mongols now had a firm outpost in Central Asia directly bordering the Khwarazm Empire, relations with the Khwarazms would quickly break down, leading to the Mongol invasion of that territory. Empires of the Silk Road, A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. The Empire of the Qara Khitai in Eurasian History, Between China, the Khyber Pass, A History of Empire and Invasion. New York City, Union Square Press, gabriel, Richard A. Genghis Khans Greatest General, Subotai the Valiant. New York City, Oxford University Press, United States, the History of The World Conqueror. Translated by John Andrew Boyle from Tarīkh-i Jahān-gushā, ed. Mohammad Ghazvini, Genghis Khan, Historys Greatest Empire Builder

9.
Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia
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The Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia from 1219 to 1221 marked the beginning of the Mongol conquest of the Islamic states. The Mongol expansion would ultimately culminate in the conquest of all of Asia save for Japan. It was not originally the intention of the Mongol Empire to invade the Khwarezmid Empire, let us conclude a firm treaty of friendship and peace. The Mongol wars with the Jurchens however had shown how cruel the Mongols could be, Shah Muhammad reluctantly agreed to this peace treaty, but it was not to last. The war started less than a later, when a Mongol caravan. In the ensuing war, lasting less than two years, the Khwarezmid Empire was destroyed, after the defeat of the Kara-Khitans, Genghis Khans Mongol Empire gained a border with the Khwarezmid Empire, governed by Shah Ala ad-Din Muhammad. The Shah had only recently taken some of the territory under his control, the Shah had refused to make the obligatory homage to the caliph as titular leader of Islam, and demanded recognition as Shah of his empire, without any of the usual bribes or pretenses. This alone had created problems for him along his southern border and it was at this junction the rapidly expanding Mongol Empire made contact. Mongol historians are adamant that the great khan at that time had no intention of invading the Khwarezmid Empire, of further interest is that the caliph of Baghdad had attempted to instigate a war between the Mongols and the Shah some years before the Mongol invasion actually occurred. However, it is known that Genghis rejected the notion of war as he was engaged in war with the Jin Dynasty and was gaining much wealth from trading with the Khwarezmid Empire, Genghis then sent a 500-man caravan of Muslims to establish official trade ties with Khwarezmia. However Inalchuq, the governor of the Khwarezmian city of Otrar, had the members of the caravan that came from Mongolia arrested and it seems unlikely, however, that any members of the trade delegation were spies. Genghis Khan then sent a group of three ambassadors to meet the shah himself and demand the caravan at Otrar be set free. The shah had both of the Mongols shaved and had the Muslim beheaded before sending them back to Genghis Khan, Muhammad also ordered the personnel of the caravan to be executed. This was seen as an affront to the Khan himself. This led Genghis Khan to attack the Khwarezmian Dynasty, the Mongols crossed the Tien Shan mountains, coming into the Shahs empire in 1219. The changes had come in adding supporting units to his dreaded cavalry, while still relying on the traditional advantages of his mobile nomadic cavalry, Genghis incorporated many aspects of warfare from China, particularly in siege warfare. His baggage train included such siege equipment as battering rams, gunpowder, also, the Mongol intelligence network was formidable. The Mongols never invaded an opponent whose military and economic will, for instance, Subutai and Batu Khan spent a year scouting central Europe, before destroying the armies of Hungary and Poland in two separate battles, two days apart

10.
Mongol conquest of China
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The Mongol invasion of China was a series of major military efforts by the Mongols to invade China proper. It spanned six decades in the 13th century and involved the defeat of the Jin dynasty, Western Xia, the Dali Kingdom, the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan started the conquest with small-scale raids into Western Xia in 1205 and 1207. By 1279, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan had established the Yuan dynasty in China and crushed the last Song resistance and this was the first time in history that the whole of China was conquered and subsequently ruled by a foreign or non-native ruler. In the early 1200s, Temujin, soon to be Genghis Khan, began consolidating his power in Mongolia. Following the death of the Kerait leader Ong Khan to Temujins emerging Mongol Empire in 1203, Keriat leader Nilqa Senggum led a band of followers into Western Xia. However, after his adherents took to plundering the locals, Nilqa Senggum was expelled from Western Xia territory, using his rival Nilga Senggums temporary refuge in Western Xia as a pretext, Temujin launched a raid against the state in 1205 in the Edsin region. The Mongols plundered border settlements and one local Western Xia noble accepted Mongol supremacy, the next year,1206, Temujin was formally proclaimed Genghis Khan, ruler of all the Mongols, marking the official start of the Mongol Empire. In 1207, Genghis led another raid into Western Xia, invading the Ordo region and sacking Wuhai, in 1209, the Genghis undertook a larger campaign to secure the submission of Western Xia. The Mongols, at this point inexperienced at siege warfare, attempted to out the city by diverting the Yellow River. After their defeat in 1210, Western Xia served as vassals to the Mongol Empire for almost a decade. In 1219, Genghis Khan launched his campaign against the Khwarazmian dynasty in Central Asia, and requested military aid from Western Xia. However, the emperor and his military commander Asha refused to part in the campaign, stating that if Genghis had too few troops to attack Khwarazm. Infuriated, Genghis swore vengeance and left to invade Khwarazm, while Western Xia attempted alliances with the Jin, after defeating Khwarazm in 1221, Genghis prepared his armies to punish Western Xia for their betrayal, and in 1225 he attacked with a force of approximately 180,000. After taking Khara-Khoto, the Mongols began a steady advance southward, enraged by Western Xias fierce resistance, Genghis engaged the countryside in annihilative warfare and ordered his generals to systematically destroy cities and garrisons as they went. In August 1226, Mongol troops approached Wuwei, the second-largest city of the Western Xia empire, in Autumn 1226, Genghis took Liangchow, crossed the Helan Shan desert, and in November lay siege to Lingwu, a mere 30 kilometers from Yinchuan. Here, in the Battle of Yellow River, the Mongols destroyed a force of 300,000 Western Xia that launched a counter-attack against them, Yinchuan lay besieged for about six months, after which Genghis opened up peace negotiations while secretly planning to kill the emperor. However, in August 1227, Genghis died of an uncertain cause. In September 1227, Emperor Mozhu surrendered to the Mongols and was promptly executed, the Mongols then mercilessly pillaged Yinchuan, slaughtered the citys population, plundered the imperial tombs west of the city, and completed the effective annihilation the Western Xia state

11.
Mongol conquest of Western Xia
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The Mongol conquest of Western Xia was a series of conflicts between the Mongol Empire and the Western Xia dynasty, also known as the Tangut Empire, or Minya. Hoping to gain both plunder and a vassal state, Mongol leader Genghis Khan commanded some initial raids against Western Xia before launching a full-scale invasion in 1209. This invasion marked both the first major invasion conducted by Genghis and the beginning of the Mongol invasion of China, angered by this betrayal, in 1225 Genghis Khan sent a second, punitive expedition into Western Xia. Near the end of the siege, in August 1227, Genghis Khan died from an uncertain cause, after his death, Yinchuan fell to the Mongols and most of its population was massacred. A fairly small state, Western Xia struggled for dominance with its larger and more neighbors, the Liao dynasty to the east and northeast. When the Jin dynasty emerged in 1115 and displaced the Liao, aiding Jin in their wars against the Song, Western Xia gained thousands of square miles of former Song territory. However, over many years the relations between Western Xia and Jin gradually declined, upon the death of its fourth ruler, Emperor Renzong, Emperor Huanzong took the throne and Western Xias power began to fail. Though militarily inferior to the neighboring Jin, the Western Xia still exerted a significant influence upon the northern steppes, the state often welcomed deposed Kerait leaders because of close trade connections to the steppes and because of the possibility of using the refugees as pawns in the Mongolian Plateau. In the late 1190s and early 1200s, Temujin, soon to be Genghis Khan, began consolidating his power in Mongolia. Following the death of the Keraites leader Ong Khan to Temujins emerging Mongol Empire in 1203, however, after his adherents took to plundering the locals, Nilqa Senggum was expelled from Western Xia territory. Using his rival Nilga Senggums temporary refuge in Western Xia as a pretext, the Mongols plundered border settlements and one local Western Xia noble accepted Mongol supremacy. During a raid on Ganzhou, the Mongols captured the son of the citys commander and this young boy joined Mongol service and took a Mongol name, Chagaan, and eventually rose through the ranks to become commander of Temujins personal guard. In 1207, Genghis led another raid into Western Xia, invading the Ordo region and sacking Wuhai, Genghis then began preparing for a full-scale invasion. By invading Western Xia, he would gain a tribute-paying vassal, furthermore, from Western Xia he could launch raids into the even more wealthy Jin dynasty. In 1209, Genghis undertook his campaign to actually conquer Western Xia, Li Anquan requested aid from the Jin dynasty, but the new Jin emperor Wanyan Yongji refused to send aid, stating that It is to our advantage when our enemies attack each other. Wherein lies the danger to us and his path now open, Genghis advanced to the capital. Well fortified, Yinchuan held about 150,000 soldiers, nearly twice the size of the Mongol army, one of their first endeavors at siege warfare, the Mongols lacked the proper equipment and experience to take the city. They arrived at the city in May, but by October were still unsuccessful at breaking through, Genghis attempted to flood the capital by diverting the river and its network of irrigation canals into the city, and by January 1210 the walls of Yinchuan were nearly breached

12.
Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty
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The Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty, also known as the Mongol–Jin War, was fought between the Mongol Empire and the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in Manchuria and north China. The war, which started in 1211, lasted over 23 years, the Jurchen rulers of the Jin dynasty collected tribute from some of the nomadic tribes living on the Mongol steppes and encouraged rivalries among them. When the Mongols were unified under Khabul in the 12th century, the Jurchens encouraged the Tatars to destroy them, the Tatars eventually captured Khabuls successor, Ambaghai, and handed him over to the Jin imperial court. Emperor Xizong of the Jin dynasty ordered had Ambaghai executed by crucifixion, the Jin dynasty also conducted regular punitive expeditions against the Mongol nomads, either enslaving or killing them. In 1210, a delegation arrived at the court of Genghis Khan to proclaim the ascension of Wanyan Yongji to the Jin throne, because the Jurchens defeated the powerful steppe nomads and allied with the Keraites and the Tatars, they claimed sovereignty over all the tribes of the steppe. High court officials in the Jin government defected to the Mongols, but fearful of a trap or some other nefarious scheme, Genghis Khan refused. His defiance of the Jin envoys was tantamount to a declaration of war between the Mongols and Jurchens, after Genghis Khan returned to the Kherlen River, in the spring of 1211, he summoned a kurultai. By organising a long discussion, everyone in the community was included in the process, the Khan prayed privately on a nearby mountain. He removed his hat and belt, bowed down before the Eternal Sky and he explained that he had not sought this war against the Jurchens. At the dawn on the day, Genghis Khan emerged with the verdict, The Eternal Blue Sky has promised us victory. Wanyan Yongji, angry on hearing how Genghis Khan behaved, sent the message to the Khan that Our Empire is like the sea, yours is, when the conquest of the Tangut-led Western Xia empire started, there were multiple raids between 1207-1209. When the Mongols invaded Jin territory in 1211, Ala Qush, the first important battle between the Mongol Empire and the Jin dynasty was the Battle of Yehuling at a mountain pass in Zhangjiakou which took place in 1211. There, Wanyan Jiujin, the Jin field commander, made a mistake in not attacking the Mongols at the first opportunity. Instead, he sent a messenger to the Mongol side, Shimo Mingan, at this engagement, fought at Yehuling, the Mongols massacred thousands of Jin troops. The Mongols learnt at an age to always fight on the move. They would pass through towns to draw their opponent away from their animals, when they fell for the Mongol armys trap, the Mongols would kill them and take their animals. While Genghis Khan headed southward, his general Jebe travelled even further east into Manchuria, however, Genghis Khan was wounded by an arrow in his knee in 1212 after the Mongols returned from their relaxation in the borderlands between grass and the Gobi Desert. The Khitan leader Liu-ke had declared his allegiance to Genghis in 1212, the Mongols smashed the Jin armies, each numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and broke through Juyong Pass and Zijing Gap by November 1213

13.
Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty
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The Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty under Kublai Khan was the final step for the Mongols to rule the whole of China under the Yuan dynasty. It is also considered the Mongol Empires last great military achievement, although Genghis Khan refused, on his death in 1227 he bequeathed a plan to attack the Jin capital by passing through Song territory. Subsequently, a Mongol ambassador was killed by the Song governor in uncertain circumstances, before receiving any explanation, the Mongols marched through Song territory to enter the Jins redoubt in Henan. In 1233 the Song dynasty finally became an ally of the Mongols, Song general Meng Gong defeated the Jin general Wu Xian and directed his troops to besiege the city of Caizhou, to which the last emperor of the Jurchen had fled. With the help of the Mongols, the Song armies were able to extinguish the Jin dynasty that had occupied northern China for more than a century. Thus the Mongol troops, headed by sons of the Ögedei Khan, started their slow and this combination resulted in one of the most difficult and prolonged wars of the Mongol conquests. A greater amount of resistance was put up by Korea. The Mongol force which invaded southern China was far greater than the force sent to invade the Middle East in 1256. Many Han Chinese defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded three Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols. There were 4 Han Tumens, with each Tumen consisting of 10,000 troops, the four Han Generals Zhang Rou, Yan Shi, Shi Tianze, and Liu Heima commanded the four Han tumens under Ogödei Khan. Shi Tianze was a Han Chinese who lived in the Jin dynasty, interethnic marriage between Han and Jurchen became common at this time. Shi Bingzhi was married to a Jurchen woman and a Han Chinese woman, Shi Tianze was married to two Jurchen women, a Han Chinese woman, and a Korean woman, and his son Shi Gang was born to one of his Jurchen wives. His Jurchen wives surnames were Mo-nien and Na-ho, his Korean wifes surname was Li, Shi Tianze defected to the Mongol Empires forces upon their invasion of the Jin dynasty. His son Shi Gang married a Kerait woman, the Kerait were Mongolified Turkic people and considered as part of the Mongol nation. Shi Tianze, Zhang Rou, and Yan Shi and other high ranking Chinese who served in the Jin dynasty, Chagaan and Zhang Rou jointly launched an attack on the Song dynasty ordered by Töregene Khatun. The Yuan dynasty created a Han Army out of defected Jin troops, in the early spring of 1227, Genghis Khan ordered a small fraction of the army to advance into Songs Circuit of Lizhou, in the name of attacking Jīn and W. Xia. The five zhous of Jie（階）, Feng （鳳）, Cheng（成）, He （和）, then the Mongols moved southward and seized Wénzhou（文州）

14.
Dali Kingdom
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King Duan Siping established its capital at Dali in 937 and 22 kings of his dynasty ruled it until 1253, when it was conquered during the Mongol invasion of the area. The invaders received help from the dynasty itself, which continued to rule the area afterwards as Mongol vassals, the Dali Kingdom was preceded by the Nanzhao dynasty, which was overthrown in 902. Three dynasties followed in succession before Duan Siping seized power in 937. Gao Shengtai forced the puppet king Duan Zhengming to abdicate and become a monk in 1095 and he returned the power to Duan Zhengchun and his family upon his death, after which it is also known as the Later Dali. Han Chinese ancestry was professed by the Duan clan and their Han ancestors originated from Wuwei in Gansu province 武威段氏. In 825 the monk Pulituoke came from India calling himself the holy Acuoye Guanyin from the western Lotus land, meng Longshun, the 11th king of Nanzhao, established Buddhism as the state religion. Ten of the 22 kings of Dali gave up the throne and it is said that the Mongols found a traitor who led them over the Cang Mountains along a secret path, and only in this way were they able to penetrate and overrun the Bai defenders. Thus ended three centuries of independence, in 1274 the Province of Yunnan was created by the Mongol Empire at the beginning of the Yuan dynasty. The Dali King Duan Xingzhi himself defected to the Mongols, the Duan family reigned in Dali while the Governors served in Kunming. After the Ming dynasty conquered Yunnan from the Yuan, The Duan royals were scattered in various distant areas of China by the Hongwu Emperor, media related to Kingdom of Dali at Wikimedia Commons

15.
Mongol invasions of Japan
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The Mongol invasions of Japan, which took place in 1274 and 1281, were major military efforts undertaken by Kublai Khan to conquer the Japanese archipelago after the submission of Goryeo to vassaldom. Ultimately a failure, the attempts are of macro-historical importance because they set a limit on Mongol expansion. The Mongol invasions are considered a precursor to modern warfare. One of the most notable innovations during the war was the use of explosive. After a series of Mongol invasions of Korea between 1231 and 1281, Goryeo signed a treaty in favor of the Mongols and became a vassal state, Kublai was declared Khagan of the Mongol Empire in 1260 and established his capital at Khanbaliq in 1264. The Mongols also made attempts to subjugate the peoples of Sakhalin—the Ainu, Orok. In 1266, Kublai Khan dispatched emissaries to Japan with a saying, Cherished by the Mandate of Heaven. The sovereigns of small countries, sharing borders with other, have for a long time been concerned to communicate with each other. Especially since my ancestor governed at heavens command, innumerable countries from afar disputed our power, Goryeo rendered thanks for my ceasefire and for restoring their land and people when I ascended the throne. Our relation is feudatory like a father and son and we think you already know this. Japan was allied with Goryeo and sometimes with China since the founding of your country, however and we are afraid that the Kingdom is yet to know this. Hence we dispatched a mission with our letter particularly expressing our wishes, enter into friendly relations with each other from now on. We think all countries belong to one family, how are we in the right, unless we comprehend this. Nobody would wish to resort to arms, Kublai essentially demanded that Japan become a vassal and send tribute under a threat of conflict. A second set of emissaries were sent in 1268, returning empty-handed like the first, after discussing the letters with his inner circle, there was much debate, but the Shikken had his mind made up, he had the emissaries sent back with no answer. The Mongols continued to send demands, some through Korean emissaries and some through Mongol ambassadors on March 7,1269, September 17,1269, September 1271, however, each time, the bearers were not permitted to land in Kyushu. The Imperial Court suggested compromise, but really had little effect in the matter, after acknowledging its importance, the Imperial Court led great prayer services, and much government business was put off to deal with this crisis. The Khan was willing to go to war as early as 1268 after having been rebuffed twice, Kublai Khan founded the Yuan dynasty in 1271

16.
Battle of Bun'ei
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The Battle of Bunei, or Bunei Campaign, also known as the First Battle of Hakata Bay, was the first attempt by the Yuan Dynasty founded by the Mongols to invade Japan. The Japanese defenders were aided by major storms which sunk a sizable portion of the Mongolian fleets, ultimately, this invasion attempts was decisively repulsed shortly after their initial landings. The Yuan troops withdrew and took refuge on their ships after only one day of fighting, a typhoon that night, said to be divinely conjured wind, threatened their ships, persuading them to return to Korea. Many of the ships sank that night due to the storm. After landing in the bay, the Yuan force quickly overran the town of Hakata, at first, the samurai were hopelessly outmatched, accustomed to smaller scale clan rivalries, they could not match the organization and massed firepower of the invaders. The Mongols fought with precision, loosing heavy volleys of arrows into the ranks of the Japanese, the Mongols also employed an early form of rocket artillery, and their infantry used phalanx-like tactics, holding off the samurai with their shields and spears. Though unable to defeat the Yuan forces, the Japanese fought hard. In the course of the fighting, the Hakozaki Shrine was burned to the ground. Despite their initial victories, the Yuan did not pursue the samurai further inland to the defenses at Dazaifu, nihon Ōdai Ichiran explains that the invaders were defeated because they lacked arrows. More likely this was a result of their unfamiliarity with the terrain, the expectation of Japanese reinforcements, the Yuan force, which may have intended to carry out a reconnaissance in force rather than an immediate invasion, returned to their ships. That night, the Yuan lost roughly one-third of their force in a typhoon and they retreated back to Korea, presumably at the prodding of their sailors and captains, rather than regrouping and continuing their attack. On October 5, about 1,000 soldiers of the Mongol Army landed on Komoda Beach, sukekuni So, Shugodai of Tsushima Island was killed in action. On October 14, Taira no Kagetaka, Shugodai of Iki led about 100 soldiers and they were defeated by Mongolian army and he suicided in Hidzume Castle. About 1,000 Japanese soldiers were killed there, on October 16 to 17, Mongolian army attacked the base of Sashi Clan. Hundreds of Japanese soldiers and Husashi Sashi, Tomaru Sashi and Isamu Sashi were killed, Mongolian Army landed on Sawara District and encamped in Akasaka. On seeing this situation, Kikuchi Takefusa surprised the Mongolian army, the Mongols escaped to Sohara, and they lost about 100 soldiers. Thousands of Mongolian soldiers were awaiting in Torikai-Gata, suenaga Takesaki, one of Japanese commanders, assaulted the Mongolian army and fought them. Soon, reinforcements by Michiyasu Shiraisi arrived there and defeated the Mongolians, the Mongolian casualties of this battle are estimated at around 13,500

17.
Mongol invasions of Vietnam
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Although ultimately a failure for the Mongols, both the Trần dynasty and Champa decided to accept the nominal supremacy of the Yuan dynasty in order to avoid further conflicts. By the 1250s, the Mongol Empire controlled large amounts of Eurasia including much of Eastern Europe, Anatolia, North China, Mongolia, Manchuria, Central Asia, Tibet, möngke Khan planned to attack the Song dynasty in South China from three directions in 1259. Therefore, he ordered the prince Kublai to pacify the Dali Kingdom, after subjugating Dali, Kublai sent one column under Uriyangkhadai to the southeast. Uriyangkhadai sent envoys to demand the submission of Đại Việt, and this action led Uriyangkhadai and his son Aju to invade Đại Việt with 40,000 Mongols and 10,000 Yi people. The ancestors of the Trần clan originated from the province of Fujian and later migrated to Đại Việt under Trần Kinh 陳京, a Vietnamese woman and a Chinese man were the parents of Phạm Nhan. He fought against the Tran for the Yuan dynasty, dong Trieu was his mothers place. In 1258, a Mongol column under Uriyangkhadai, the son of Subutai, a battle was fought in which the Vietnamese used war elephants. Aju ordered his troops to fire arrows at the elephants feet, the animals turned in panic and caused disorder in the Đại Việt army, which was routed. The King of Đại Việt fled to an island. When they found their envoys in prison, one of whom died, in January 29,1258, Đại Việts Emperor Trần Thái Tông along with Prince Trần Hoảng counterattacked at Đông Bộ Đầu. The Mongols were surprised and defeated and they retreated completely from Đại Việt. According to historians, Hòe Nhai Pagoda in Ba Đình District, the following year, Uriyangkhadai returned to Đại Việt with an army of three thousand Mongols and ten thousand local troops from the conquered Kingdom of Dali, now the Yuan province of Yunnan. He led this army into Song China, and fought his way to the Yangtze River, the Vietnamese had submitted unwillingly, and were reluctant vassals. The Vietnamese emperor repeatedly ignored demands to attend the Yuan court, nevertheless, according to the history of the Yuan dynasty, the Trần court sent tribute every three years and received a darughachi. By 1266, however, a developed, as the Emperor Thánh Tông sought a loose tributary relationship. Trần Thánh Tông sent a letter requiring Kublai to take his darughachi back. Because of civil war in the Mongol Empire, and the Yuan conquest of Song China, instead, Kublai reminded him of the peace treaty signed by the Mongols and Đại Việt. As a result of the Mongol conquest of the Song Empire, by 1278–79, some former Song officials fled to Đại Việt and Champa, former vassals of Song China, during the final stage of Mongolian conquest of China

18.
Mongol invasions of India
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The Mongol Empire launched several invasions into the Indian subcontinent from 1221 to 1327, with many of the later raids made by the unruly Qaraunas of Mongol origin. The Mongols occupied parts of modern Pakistan and other parts of Punjab for decades, the Mughal Empire founded by Babur, however, successfully conquered most of the Indian subcontinent in the 16th and the 17th centuries. After pursuing Jalal ad-Din into India from Samarkand and defeating him at the battle of Indus in 1221, the Mongol commander Bala chased Jalal ad-Din throughout the Punjab region and attacked outlying towns like Bhera and Multan and had even sacked the outskirts of Lahore. Jalal ad-Din regrouped, forming an army from survivors of the battle and sought an alliance, or even an asylum, with the Turkic rulers of Delhi Sultanate. Jalal ad-Din fought against the rulers in the Punjab, and usually defeated them in the open. Local tribes of Punjab came in his service, like the tribe of the Salt Range. The Khokhar Rais son joined Jalal ad-Dins army along with his clansmen, Jalal ad-Dins soldiers were under his officers Uzbek Pai and Hassan Qarlugh. Jalal ad-Din was also joined by forces from Ghor and Peshawar, including members of the Khilji, Turkoman, with his new allies he marched on Ghazni and defeated a Mongol division under Turtai, which had been assigned the task of hunting him down. The victorious allies quarreled over the division of the booty, subsequently the Khilji, Turkoman. By this time Ögedei Khan, third son of Genghis Khan, had become Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, a Mongol general named Chormaqan sent by the Khan attacked and defeated him, thus ending the Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty. Some time after 1235 another Mongol force invaded Kashmir, stationing a darughachi there for several years, around the same time, a Kashmiri Buddhist master, Otochi, and his brother Namo arrived at the court of Ögedei. Another Mongol general named Pakchak attacked Peshawar and defeated the army of tribes who had deserted Jalal ad-Din but were still a threat to the Mongols and these men, mostly Khiljis, escaped to Multan and were recruited into the army of the Delhi Sultanate. In winter 1241 the Mongol force invaded the Indus valley and besieged Lahore, however, on December 30,1241, the Mongols under Munggetu butchered the town before withdrawing from the Delhi Sultanate. At the same time the Great Khan Ögedei died, however, the Kashmiri king killed Otochi at Srinagar. Sali invaded Kashmir, killing the king, and put down the rebellion, the Delhi prince, Jalal al-Din Masud, traveled to the Mongol capital at Karakorum to seek the assistance of Möngke Khan in seizing the throne from his elder brother in 1248. When Möngke was crowned as Great Khan, Jalal al-Din Masud attended the ceremony, Möngke ordered Sali to assist him to recover his ancestral realm. Sali made successive attacks on Multan and Lahore, sham al-Din Muhammad Kart, the client malik of Herat, accompanied the Mongols. Jalal al-Din was installed as client ruler of Lahore, Kujah, in 1257 the governor of Sindh offered his entire province to Hulagu Khan, Mongkes brother, and sought Mongol protection from his overlord in Delhi

19.
Mongol invasions of Korea
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The Mongol invasions of Korea comprised a series of campaigns between 1231 and 1270 by the Mongol Empire against the Kingdom of Goryeo. These Khitans are possibly the origin of the Baekjeong, Gojong of Goryeo was the 23rd king of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. In 1225, the Mongol Empire demanded tribute goods from Goryeo and his death was used by the Mongols as an excuse to invade Goryeo. In 1231, Ögedei Khan ordered the invasion of Korea, the experienced Mongol army was placed under the command of General Sartai. The Mongol army crossed the Yalu river and quickly secured the surrender of the town of Uiju. The Mongols were joined by Hong Bok-won, a traitor Goryeo general, Choe U mobilized as many soldiers as possible into an army consisting largely of infantry, where it fought the Mongols at both Anju and Kuju. The Mongols took Anju, however, they were forced to retreat after the Siege of Kuju, frustrated by siege warfare, Sartai instead used his armies superior mobility to bypass the Goryeo army and succeeded in taking the capital at Gaesong. Elements of the Mongol army reached as far as Chungju in the central Korean peninsula, however, realizing that with the fall of the capital Goryeo was unable to resist the Mongol invaders, Goryeo sued for peace. Choe U exploited the Mongols primary weakness, fear of the sea, the government commandeered every available ship and barge to transport supplies and soldiers to Ganghwa Island. The evacuation was so sudden that King Kojong himself had to sleep in an inn on the island. The government further ordered the people to flee the countryside and take shelter in major cities, mountain citadels. Ganghwa Island itself was a defensive fortress. Smaller fortresses were built on the side of the island. The Mongols protested the move and immediately launched a second attack, the Mongol army was led by a traitor from Pyongyang called Hong Bok-won and the Mongols occupied much of northern Korea. Although they reached parts of the peninsula as well, the Mongols failed to capture Ganghwa Island, which was only a few miles from shore. The Mongol general there, Sartai, was killed by the monk Kim Yun-hu amidst strong resistance at the Battle of Cheoin near Yongin. In 1235, the Mongols began a campaign that ravaged parts of Gyeongsang, civilian resistance was strong, and the Royal Court at Ganghwa attempted to strengthen its fortress. Goryeo won several victories but the Goryeo military and Righteous armies could not withstand the waves of invasions, in 1236, Gojong ordered the re-creation of the Tripitaka Koreana, destroyed during the 1232 invasion

20.
Mongol invasions of Tibet
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There were several Mongol invasions of Tibet. The earliest is the plot to invade Tibet by Genghis Khan in 1206. The first confirmed campaign is the invasion of Tibet by the Mongol general Doorda Darkhan in 1240, the campaign was smaller than the full-scale invasions used by the Mongols against large empires. The purpose of this attack is unclear, and is still in debate among Tibetologists, then in the late 1240s Mongolian prince Godan invited Sakya lama Sakya Pandita, who urged other leading Tibetan figures to submit to Mongol authority. This is generally considered to have marked the beginning of Mongol rule over Tibet, as well as the establishment of patron and priest relationship between Mongols and Tibetans. These relations were continued by Kublai Khan, who founded the Mongol Yuan dynasty and granted authority over whole Tibet to Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, the Sakya-Mongol administrative system and Yuan administrative rule over the region lasted until the mid-14th century, when the Yuan dynasty began to crumble. In the early 17th century, the Oirat Mongols again conquered the region, since then the Mongols had intervened in Tibetan politics until the Qing conquest of Mongolia and Dzungaria. According to one traditional Tibetan account, the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan plotted to invade Tibet in 1206, modern scholars consider the account to be anachronistic and factually wrong. Genghis campaign was targeted at the Tangut kingdom of Western Xia, not Tibet, there are not evidences of interaction between the two nations prior to Doorda Darkhans invasion in 1240. The earliest real Mongol contact with ethnic Tibetan people came in 1236, in 1240, the Mongol Prince Godan, Ögedeis son and Güyüks younger brother, delegated the command of the Tibetan invasion to the Tangut general, Doorda Darqan. The expedition was the first instance of conflict between the two nations. The attack consisted of 30,000 men and resulted in 500 casualties, along with the burning of the Kadampa monasteries of Rwa-sgreṅ, the campaign was smaller than the full-scale invasions used by the Mongols against large empires. According to Turrell V. Wylie, that much is in agreement among Tibetologists, however, the purpose of invasion is disputed among Tibetan scholars, partly because of the abundance of anachronistic and factually erroneous sources. However, modern studies find that the oldest sources credit the Mongol scouts with burning Rgyal-lha-khang only, the bKa’-brgyud-pa monasteries of sTag-lung and ’Bri-gung, with their old link to the Western Xia dynasty, were spared because Doorda himself was a Tangut Buddhist. The ’Bri-gung abbot or, according to Petech, the Rwa-sgreng abbot, suggested the Mongols had invited the Sakya hierarch, after he met Godan, Sakya Pandita died there leaving his two nephews. Sakya Pandita convinced other monasteries in Central Tibet to align with the Mongols, the Mongols kept them as hostages referring symbolic surrender of Tibet. One view, considered the most traditional, is that the attack was a retaliation on Tibet caused by the Tibetan refusal to pay tribute, another theory, supported by Wylie, is that the military action was a reconnaissance campaign meant to evaluate the political situation in Tibet. The Mongols hoped to find a monarch with whom they could threaten into submission

21.
Mongol invasion of Europe
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The Mongol invasion of Europe in the 13th century was the military effort by an Asian power, the Mongol Empire, to invade and conquer parts of Europe. It involved the severe and rampant destruction of East Slavic principalities and major cities, such as Kiev, Mongol invasions also affected Central Europe, leading to conflict with the Kingdom of Hungary and fragmented Poland. The operations were masterminded by General Subutai and commanded by Batu Khan and Kadan, as a result of the invasions, many of the conquered territories would become part of the Golden Horde empire. Historians regard the Mongol raids and invasions as among the deadliest conflicts in history up through that period. Ögedei Khan ordered Batu Khan to conquer Rus in 1235, the main force, headed by Jochis sons, and their cousins, Möngke Khan and Güyük Khan, arrived at Ryazan in December 1237. Ryazan refused to surrender, and the Mongols sacked it and then stormed Suzdalia, many Rus armies were defeated, Grand Prince Yuri was killed on the Sit River. Major cities such as Vladimir, Torzhok, and Kozelsk were captured, afterward, the Mongols turned their attention to the steppe, crushing the Kypchaks and the Alans and sacking Crimea. Batu appeared in Ukraine in 1239, sacking Pereiaslav and Chernihiv, most of the Rus princes fled when it became clear resistance was futile. The Mongols sacked Kiev on December 6,1240 and conquered Galich, Batu sent a small detachment to probe the Poles before passing on to Central Europe. One column was routed by the Poles while the defeated the Polish army. The Mongols had acquired Chinese gunpowder, which deployed in battle during the invasion of Europe to great success. The attack on Europe was planned and executed by Subutai, who achieved perhaps his most lasting fame with his victories there. Having devastated the various Rus principalities, he sent spies into Poland and Hungary, having a clear picture of the European kingdoms, he prepared an attack nominally commanded by Batu Khan and two other familial-related princes. He also commanded the column that moved against Hungary. While Kadans northern force won the Battle of Legnica and Güyüks army triumphed in Transylvania, the newly reunited army then withdrew to the Sajo River where they inflicted a decisive defeat on King Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi. Again, Subutai masterminded the operation, and it would one of his greatest victories. The Mongols invaded Central Europe with three armies, one army defeated an alliance which included forces from fragmented Poland and members of various Christian military orders, led by Henry II the Pious, Duke of Silesia in the battle of Legnica. A second army crossed the Carpathian mountains and a third followed the Danube, the armies re-grouped and crushed Hungary in 1241, defeating the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi on April 11,1241

22.
Mongol invasion of Rus'
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As part of the Mongol invasion of Europe, the Mongol Empire invaded Kievan Rus in the 13th century, destroying numerous cities, including Ryazan, Kolomna, Moscow, Vladimir, and Kiev. The campaign was heralded by the Battle of the Kalka River in May 1223, a full-scale invasion of Rus by Batu Khan followed, from 1237 to 1240. The invasion was ended by the Mongol succession process upon the death of Ögedei Khan, all Rus principalities were forced to submit to Mongol rule and became part of the Golden Horde empire, some of which lasted until 1480. As it was undergoing fragmentation, Kievan Rus faced the unexpected eruption of a foreign foe coming from the mysterious regions of the Far East. For our sins, writes the Rus chronicler of the time, no one knew their origin or whence they came, or what religion they practiced. That is known only to God, and perhaps to wise men learned in books, the princes of Rus first heard of the coming Mongol warriors from the nomadic Cumans. In response to call, Mstislav the Bold and Mstislav Romanovich the Old joined forces and set out eastward to meet the foe. In the Secret History of the Mongols, the reference to this early battle is, Then he sent Dorbei the Fierce off against the city of Merv. He sent Subetei the Brave off to war in the North where he defeated eleven kingdoms and tribes, crossing the Volga and Ural Rivers, finally going to war with Kiev. The vast Mongol hordes of around 35,000 mounted archers, commanded by Batu Khan and Subutai, crossed the Volga River and it took them a year to extinguish the resistance of the Volga Bulgarians, the Cumans-Kipchaks, and the Alani. In November 1237, Batu Khan sent his envoys to the court of Yuri II of Vladimir, a month later, the hordes besieged Ryazan. After six days of battle, the city was totally annihilated. Alarmed by the news, Yuri II sent his sons to detain the invaders, having burnt down Kolomna and Moscow, the horde laid siege to Vladimir on February 4,1238. Three days later, the capital of Vladimir-Suzdal was taken and burnt to the ground, the royal family perished in the fire, while the grand prince retreated northward. Crossing the Volga, he mustered a new army, which was annihilated by the Mongols in the Battle of the Sit River on March 4. Chinese siege engines were used by the Mongols under Tului to raze the walls of Russian cities, the most difficult to take was the small town of Kozelsk, whose boy-prince Vasily, son of Titus, and inhabitants resisted the Mongols for seven weeks, killing 4,000. As the story goes, at the news of the Mongol approach, the town of Kitezh with all its inhabitants was submerged into a lake. The only major cities to escape destruction were Novgorod and Pskov, the Mongols were advancing on Novgorod but unexpectedly turned back at the site mentioned as Ignach Cross, of which the exact location is not known

23.
Battle of Samara Bend
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The Battle of Samara Bend or the Battle of Kernek was the first battle between Volga Bulgaria and the Mongols, probably one of the first skirmishes or battles the Mongols lost. It took place in autumn 1223, at the border of Volga Bulgaria. The Bulgars retreated and the Mongols pursued them, then the main Bulgar forces ambushed the Mongols. Its mobility was unmatched by any military force. The utilization of the Mongolian horse allowed for survival of their steeds in areas where horses would starve or die from conditions. The Mongol commanders also realized the quality of their army and were not impressed by the size of the opposing forces of their enemies. In this way they could stand and hold, and their various tactics would often cause an enemy to break and this was the army now marching to face the Bulgars on the Volga. The Volga Bolgars/Bulgars had built up a state in the second half of the 7th century between the Sea of Azov and the Kuban valley. They were apparently of Turkic origin and related to the Kutrigur Huns, some of them migrated to Europe, forming an empire there in the Balkans. The rest slowly moved northward in the direction of Kama and Kazan to found Great Bulgaria, the Volga Bulgars on the Volga-Kama region embraced Islam in 922, becoming an important trade center between the Islamic world and Europe. The Volga Bulgars formed a civilisation with towns and Islamic culture till the Mongol invasion. The Bulgar state had weakened by these conquests. Jochi was an imaginative and determined commander, as his campaigns in Khwarizm had shown, the old directive was no longer in force per the orders from the messenger, but the return journey home gave them the opportunity to reconnoiter the north-western boundaries of the Mongol Empire. They reduced the Bulgars on the west bank of the Volga before an attack was further north. The entire historical record of the Battle of Samara Bend consists of an account by the Muslim historian Ibn al-Athir. Part 3, The Years 589–629/1193–1231, The Ayyūbids after Saladin, when the Bulghars heard of their approach, they laid ambushes for them in several places. They then marched out to them and drew them on until they had passed the ambush site. They emerged behind their backs, so that they were caught in the middle and they fell to the sword on every side

24.
Mongol invasions of Dzurdzuketia
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During the 13th and 14th centuries, the Mongols launched two long, massive invasions of the territory of modern Chechnya. They caused massive destruction and human death for the Dzurdzuks, and these invasions are among the most significant occurrences in Chechen history, and have had long-ranging effects on Chechnya and its people. During what was the late Middle Ages of Western Europe, the Caucasus was invaded by Mongols, the first appearance of Mongol troops in the Caucasus was an arrival of scouts in 1220-1222. There were plenty of warnings of the Turco-Mongolian threat. In the 1230s, the Mongols gained rule over the Kypchaks, the clearest sign of the oncoming destruction was the Mongol invasion of Georgia, which commenced a year earlier to the invasion of the Vainakh kingdom of Dzurdzuketia. The Kingdom of Georgia was an ally of Dzurdzuketia. The lack of support from Georgia and the situation of being surrounded on all sides was disastrous and this was a situation that Dzurdzuketia had never dealt with at least for centuries. Dzurdzuketia was a buffer state protecting Georgia, and as such Georgia would aid them as well, the invasion of Georgia deprived the Dzurdzuks of this crucial lifeline. In 1237, the assault on the North Caucasus began, Mongols launched the first attacks, against the Circassians and the Alans. The Dzurdzuk observed with horror the complete destruction of Alanian villages in what is now northern Ingushetia, having consolidated their rule over the western parts of the Terek, the Mongols then moved West along the river to take down the Dzurdzuk part of the Terek. Dzurdzuketia and Simsir were also attacked from the south and east, by the Mongol troops which had recently conquered Derbent, capital of the Lezghins, the attack on Dzurdzuketia, already having been commenced, intensified, and the Mongols went as far as the highlands in their attacks. Here, too, the Dzurdzuk proved no match for the arrows and flames of the Mongols, Jaimoukha states that a majority of the Dzurdzuk people were probably killed or enslaved by the Mongols. Within a few years of the invasion, Dzurdzuketia was history - and those remaining joined their mountainous brethren in the highlands, fleeing out of lack of an alternative. They regrouped in the mountains and reorganized themselves, resolving to retake their homeland at all costs and to out the Mongols and Turks once. Their goal was to survive both biologically and culturally, the Dzurdzuks had both the forests and the mountains on their side, and waged a successful guerrilla war. Three hordes fell in the assault of the densely forested Dzurdzuketia. The Mongols managed to control over large areas at times, but there were pockets of resistance which they could not conquer. Jaimoukha cites a writing of Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, a Papal Ambassador to the Mongols, william of Rubruck, the emissary of the Kingdom of France to Sartaq Khan travelled to the Caucasus in 1253

25.
First Mongol invasion of Poland
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The first invasions intention was to secure the flank of the main Mongolian army attacking the Kingdom of Hungary. The Mongols neutralized any potential help to King Bela being provided by the Poles, the Mongols invaded Europe with three armies. One of the three armies was tasked with distracting Poland, before joining the main Mongol force invading Hungary and that army, under Baidar, Kadan and Orda Khan, began scouting operations in late 1240. Mongol tumen, moving from recently conquered Volodymyr-Volynskyi in Kievan Rus, first sacked Lublin, around this time, their forces split. Ordas forces devastated central Poland, moving to Wolbórz and as far north as Łęczyca, before turning south and heading via Sieradz towards Wrocław. Baidar and Kadan ravaged the southern part of Poland, moving to Chmielnik, Kraków, Bytom, Opole and finally, Legnica, before leaving Polish lands heading west and south. Baidar and Kadan on 13 February defeated a Polish army under the voivode of Kraków, Włodzimierz, on 18 March they defeated another Polish army with units from Kraków and Sandomierz at the battle of Chmielnik. Panic spread through the Polish lands, and the citizens abandoned Kraków, in the meantime, one of the most powerful contemporary Dukes of Poland, and Duke of Silesia, Henry II the Pious, gathered his forces and allies around Legnica. Henry, in order to more forces, even sacrificed one of the largest towns of Silesia, Wrocław. Henry was also waiting for Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, his brother-in-law, while considering whether to besiege Wrocław, Baidar and Kadan received reports that the Bohemians were days away with a large army. The Mongols turned from Wrocław, not finishing the siege, in order to intercept Henrys forces before the European armies could meet, the Mongols caught up with Henry near Legnica at Legnickie Pole, known in German as Wahlstatt. Henry, despite having rough parity in numbers and a strategy, was defeated at Legnica on April 9 after the Mongols caused confusion in the Polish forces. The Mongols did not take Legnica castle, but had a free rein to pillage and plunder Silesia, the Mongols avoided the Bohemian forces, but defeated the Hungarians in the Battle of Mohi. There were also later, larger Mongol invasions of Poland, in 1254 or 1255, Daniel of Galicia revolted against the Mongol rule. He repelled the initial Mongol assault under Ordas son Quremsa, in 1259, the Mongols returned under the new command of Burundai. According to some sources, Daniel fled to Poland leaving his son and he may have hidden in the castle of Galicia instead. The Mongols needed to secure Polands aid to Daniel and war booty to feed the demand of their soldiers, lithuanians also attacked Smolensk and menaced Torzhok, tributaries of the Golden Horde, in c. The Mongols sent an expedition into Lithuania for this

26.
Second Mongol invasion of Poland
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The second Mongol invasion of Poland was carried out by general Boroldai in 1259–1260. During this invasion the cities of Sandomierz, Kraków, Lublin, Zawichost, the invasion began in late 1259, after a powerful Mongol army had been sent to the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia in order to punish King Daniel of Galicia for his independent actions. King Daniel had to comply to Mongol demands, and in 1258, to weaken Daniels position, the Golden Horde decided to attack his allies, Hungarian King Béla IV, and Duke of Kraków, Bolesław V the Chaste. The purpose of the invasion was to loot the divided Kingdom of Poland, according to the Mongol plan, the invaders were to enter Lesser Poland east of Lublin, and head towards Zawichost. After crossing the Vistula, the Mongol army was to break into two columns, operating north and south of the Holy Cross Mountains, the columns were to unite near Chęciny, and then head southwards, to Kraków. Altogether, Mongol forces under Boroldai were 30,000 strong, with Ruthenian units of King Daniel of Galicia, his brother Vasilko Romanovich, Kipchaks and probably Lithuanians or Yotvingians. The events that took place in the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia echoed in Lesser Poland, the work was quickly abandoned, and Piast dynasty dukes returned to their internal quarrels. A few weeks later, Lesser Poland was invaded by the Mongol hordes, the Mongolian army concentrated near Chełm, and after capturing Polish towns east of the Vistula, the invaders appeared at Sandomierz. Boroldai ordered Ruthenian auxiliary units to besiege and capture the city and their march was marked by an orgy of destruction, among others, ancient abbeys of Koprzywnica and Wąchock were looted. The Mongols limited their advance to Radom in the north and Sulejów in the west, the two columns of the invading army joined forces near Kielce and Chęciny, in mid-January 1260. At the same time, the siege of Sandomierz continued, defenders of the city fiercely resisted all attacks of the Mongol and Ruthenian forces. After several weeks, Mongol leaders began negotiations with the Poles, Ruthenian princes, which took part in the siege, advised Piotr of Krepa to accept Mongol offers, and abandon Sandomierz, in exchange of safe passage for all residents of the city. Finally, facing hunger and epidemics, the Poles left Sandomierz on February 2,1260, the Mongols broke their promise and massacred the civilians, the city itself was looted and burned to the ground. On February 5, main Mongol forces abandoned Sandomierz, all units joined forces on February 10–12, and entered densely populated southern Lesser Poland. After looting the abbeys at Jędrzejów, Mogila, Szczyrzyc and Miechów, in the second half of February, the Mongols reached Kraków, quickly capturing the city, but without the Wawel Hill, which was fortified and defended. To prevent Silesian Piast dukes from sending their support to Lesser Poland, Duke Bolesław V the Chaste himself fled to Sieradz, with his wife Kinga of Poland. In late March 1260, the Mongols left Lesser Poland eastward along the Carpathian foothills, the province that they had invaded was completely destroyed with rich loot taken. Some 10,000 Poles were taken with the invaders as slaves, the success of the Golden Horde was complete, as they managed to destroy an anti-Mongol alliance, and completely subjugate the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia

27.
Second Mongol invasion of Hungary
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The Second Mongol invasion of Hungary led by Nogai Khan and Tulabuga took place during the winter of 1285/1286. In 1241, a Mongol army under Subutai and Batu Khan invaded central and eastern Europe, including Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Hungarian and Croatian attempt to halt the invasion at the Battle of Mohi failed catastrophically. The light cavalry made up most of the Hungarian mounted forces had proven ineffective against the Mongol troops. Despite heavy casualties and some calls, the Mongols decisively crushed the Hungarian army. By the end of their campaign, around a quarter of the population of Hungary had been killed, the wooden, clay, and earth defenses that made up the walls of most towns and forts fell easily to the Mongol siege engines. Many Hungarian settlements didnt have any fortifications at all, one German chronicler observed that the Hungarians had almost no city protected by walls or strong fortresses. However, stone castles had significantly better fortunes, none of the few Hungarian stone castles fell, when the Mongols tried to use their siege engines on the stone walls of the Croatian Fortress of Klis, they did absolutely no damage, and were repelled with heavy casualties. King Béla IV took note of this, and spent the few decades reforming Hungary in preparation for possible future invasions. He used a variety of methods to do this, in 1247 he concluded a feudal agreement with the Knights of St. John, giving them the southeastern borderland in exchange for their help in creating more armored cavalry and fortifications. In 1248, he declared the countrys middle strata could enter a barons service, documents from the time state that the nobles of our country can enter into military service of bishops in the same way in which they can serve other nobles. After 1250, free owners of small or middle sized estates serving directly under the king were included in the nobility, finally, new settlers were given conditional nobility in exchange for the requirement of fighting mounted and armored at the kings request. In 1259, he requested that the Pope put him into contact with Venice, to cement his new defense doctrine, the king offered grants and rewards to cities and nobles in exchange for the building of stone fortifications. By the end of his reign, Béla IV had overseen the building of nearly 100 new fortresses, of these 100,66 were made of stone. This was an upgrade from 1241, when the kingdom only possessed 10 stone castles. In 1254, Batu Khan demanded an alliance with Hungary. In exchange, Hungary would be spared from tribute obligations and any further destruction, additional ultimatums were sent in 1259 and 1264, this time by Batus brother and successor, Berke Khan. Berke made similar demands, if Hungary would submit to the Mongols and grant them a quarter of its army for the invasion of Europe, it would receive tax exemption. After the deaths of the kings Béla IV and Stephen V, under the maternal influence, he became known as the Ladislaus the Cuman

28.
Mongol Armenia
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Mongol Armenia or Ilkhanid Armenia refers to the period in which both Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia became tributary and vassal to the Mongol Empire in the 1230s. Armenia and Cilicia remained under Mongol influence until around 1335, during the time period of the later Crusades, there was a short-lived Armenian-Mongol alliance, engaged in some combined military operations against their common enemy, the Mameluks. They succeeded in capturing Baghdad in 1258, but suffered eight years later. The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, or Lesser Armenia was formed in the late 12th century, by refugees, the area was staunchly Christian, as Armenia itself had been the first nation to ever adopt Christianity as its official religion, in the 4th century. Armenians were therefore very friendly to the European Crusaders who began to arrive in the early 12th century, as the Crusades progressed, the Armenian leaders were regular players in the politics of the region, aligning with the Crusader states against the Muslims. Genghis Khan had died in 1227, and by 1241, the Empire was split up into four smaller independent khanates, the southwestern khanate, known as the Ilkhanate, under the leadership of Genghis Khans grandson Hulagu, advanced towards Persia and the Holy Land. City after city fell to the Mongols, including some Christian realms in their path, when the Mongols reached the Caucasus, they conquered Greater Armenia, and various of the Armenian barons opted to swear loyalty to the Mongol Empire. In 1236, the Grand Prince of Karabagh, Hasan Jalal submitted to the Mongols and he also traveled twice to the Mongol capital of Karakorum, where he negotiated further details of the relationship with the khan. To formalize his own relationship with the Mongols, in 1247 Hethum I sent his elder half-brother Sempad the Constable to the Mongol court in Karakorum. Sempad met with Güyük Khan and his successor, Kublai Khans brother Möngke Khan, Sempad was enthusiastic about his travel to the Mongol realm, which lasted until 1250. He discovered many Christians in Mongol lands, even among the Mongols themselves, on February 7,1248, he sent a letter from Samarkand to his brother-in-law Henry I, king of Cyprus. During his visit to the Mongol court, Sempad received a relative of the Great Khan as a bride and he had a child with her, named Vasil Tatar, who would later be captured by the Mamluks at the Battle of Mari in 1266. In 1254, King Hethum himself traveled through Central Asia to the Mongol court and he brought many sumptuous presents, and met with Möngke Khan at Karakorum. Hethum, who came spontaneously as a vassal, was well received by the Mongols. Möngke also informed him that he was preparing to mount an attack on Baghdad, in 1258, the combined forces conquered the center of the most powerful Islamic dynasty in existence at that time, that of the Abbasids in the Siege of Baghdad. From there, the Mongol forces and their Christian allies conquered Muslim Syria and they took the city of Aleppo with the help of the Franks of Antioch, and on March 1,1260, under the Christian general Kitbuqa, they also took Damascus. Following Ain Jalut, the remainder of the Mongol army retreated to Cilician Armenia under the commander Ilka, Hulagu then attempted a counter-attack which briefly occupied Aleppo, but it was repelled by the princes of Hama and Homs, subjects to the Sultan. In 1262, the Mamluk leader Baibars began to threaten Antioch and that summer, Hethum again went to the Mongols to obtain their intervention to deliver the city from the Muslim threat

29.
Mongol invasions of Anatolia
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Mongol invasions of Anatolia occurred at various times, starting with the campaign of 1241–1243 that culminated in the Battle of Köse Dağ. Real power over Anatolia was exercised by the Mongols after the Seljuks surrendered in 1243 until the fall of the Ilkhanate in 1335, because the Seljuk Sultan rebelled several times, in 1255, the Mongols swept through central and eastern Anatolia. The Ilkhanate garrison was stationed near Ankara, timurs invasion is sometimes considered the last invasion of Anatolia by the Mongols. Remains of the Mongol cultural heritage still can be seen in Turkey, including tombs of a Mongol governor, by the end of the 14th century, most of Anatolia was controlled by various Anatolian beyliks due to the collapse of the Seljuk dynasty in Rum. The Turkmen Beyliks were under the control of the Mongols through declining Seljuk Sultans, the Beyliks did not mint coins in the names of their own leaders while they remained under the suzerainty of the Ilkhanids. The Osmanli ruler Osman I was the first Turkish ruler who minted coins in his own name in the 1320s, since the minting of coins was a prerogative accorded in Islamic practice only to be a sovereign, it can be considered that Osmanli became independent of the Mongol Khans. In the 12th century, the Byzantines managed to reassert their control in Western and Northern Anatolia, after the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Latin Crusaders, two Byzantine successor states were established, the Empire of Nicaea, and the Despotate of Epirus. A third one, the Empire of Trebizond was created a few weeks before the sack of Constantinople by Alexios I of Trebizond, of these three successor states, Trebizond and Nicaea stood near the Mongolian Empire. Control of Anatolia was then split between the Greek States and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, with the Byzantine holdings gradually being reduced, during the Military governor Chormaqans tenure in Persia, no hostilities occurred with the Seljuk Turks. Ala al-Din Kayqubad I and his immediate successor Giyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II swore an oath of vassalage with the payment of at least token tribute in the name of Ögedei Qaghan, however, the Mongols raided part of Greater Armenia which was under the Sultanate of Rum in 1238. After the death of Ögedei in 1241, Kaykhusraw took the opportunity to terminate the tributary status of his realm, Chormaqans successor Baiju summoned him to resubmit Asia Minor to its tributary status. The Sultan rejected his demands to him go to Mongolia in person, give hostages. When the Sultan refused, Baiju declared war, the Seljuks invaded the Kingdom of Georgia, part of the Mongol Empire. Baijus army attacked Karin in relation to Kaykhusraws disobedience in 1241, before sacking of the city, Baiju demanded the submission of it. The inhabitants of the city bullied the Mongol envoy sent by him, since the city decided to resist and defied the Mongol diplomacy, it is enclosed with the siege machines. In two months, the Mongols took it and punished its residents, aware of the Seljuk power in Anatolia, Baiju returned to Mughan plain without advancing further deep. Baiju advanced to Erzurum with a contingent of Georgian and Armenian warriors under Awag and they besieged the city of Erzurum when its governor Yakut refused to surrender it. With the power of twelve catapults, Baiju stormed Erzurum, when the reports of the attack on Erzurum reported to him, Kaykhusraw summoned his armed forces at Konya

30.
Siege of Baghdad (1258)
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The Mongols were under the command of Hulagu Khan, brother of the khagan Möngke Khan, who had intended to further extend his rule into Mesopotamia but not to directly overthrow the Caliphate. Hulagu began his campaign in Iran with several offensives against Nizari groups, including the Assassins and he then marched on Baghdad, demanding that Al-Mustasim accede to the terms imposed by Möngke on the Abbasids. Although the Abbasids had failed to prepare for the invasion, the Caliph believed that Baghdad could not fall to invading forces, Hulagu subsequently besieged the city, which surrendered after 12 days. During the next week, the Mongols sacked Baghdad, committing atrocities and destroyed the Abbasids vast libraries. The Mongols executed Al-Mustasim and massacred residents of the city. Baghdad had for centuries been the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, the third caliphate whose rulers were descendants of Abbas, in 751, the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads and moved the Caliphs seat from Damascus to Baghdad. At the citys peak, it was populated by one million people and was defended by an army of 60,000 soldiers. By the middle of the 13th century, however, the power of the Abbasids had declined and Turkic, Baghdad still retained much symbolic significance, however, and it remained a rich and cultured city. The Caliphs of the 12th and 13th centuries had begun to develop links with the expanding Mongol Empire in the east, Caliph an-Nasir li-dinillah, who reigned from 1180–1225, may have attempted an alliance with Genghis Khan when Muhammad II of Khwarezm threatened to attack the Abbasids. It has been rumored that some Crusader captives were sent as tribute to the Mongol khagan, according to The Secret History of the Mongols, Genghis and his successor, Ögedei Khan, ordered their general Chormaqan to attack Baghdad. In 1236, Chormaqan led a division of the Mongol army to Irbil, further raids on Irbil and other regions of the caliphate became nearly annual occurrences. Some raids were alleged to have reached Baghdad itself, but these Mongol incursions were not always successful, despite their successes, the Abbasids hoped to come to terms with the Mongols and by 1241 had adopted the practice of sending an annual tribute to the court of the khagan. Envoys from the Caliph were present at the coronation of Güyük Khan as khagan in 1246, during his brief reign, Güyük insisted that the Caliph Al-Mustasim fully submit to Mongol rule and come personally to Karakorum. In 1257, Möngke resolved to establish authority over Mesopotamia, Syria. The khagan gave his brother, Hulagu, authority over a subordinate khanate and army, the Ilkhanate, generals of the army included the Oirat administrator Arghun Agha, Baiju, Buqa Temür, Guo Kan, and Kitbuqa, as well as Hulagus brother Sunitai and various other warlords. About 1,000 Chinese artillery experts accompanied the army, as did Persian and Turkic auxiliaries, according to Ata-Malik Juvayni, Hulagu led his army first to Iran, where he successfully campaigned against the Lurs, the Bukhara, and the remnants of the Khwarezm-Shah dynasty. Though Assassins failed in attempts, Hulagu marched his army to their stronghold of Alamut, which he captured. The Mongols later executed the Assassins Grand Master, Imam Rukn al-Dun Khurshah, after defeating the Assassins, Hulagu sent word to Al-Mustasim, demanding his acquiescence to the terms imposed by Möngke

31.
Mongol invasions of the Levant
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Starting in the 1240s, the Mongols made repeated invasions of Syria or attempts thereof. Most failed, but they did have success in 1260 and 1300, capturing Aleppo and Damascus. The Mongols were forced to retreat within months each time by forces in the area. Since 1260, it had described as the Mamluk-Ilkhanid War. During the governorship of Bachu in Persia, the Mongolian army under Yisaur attacked Syria in 1244, the reasons for the attack are unclear, but it may have been in retaliation for the Syrian participation on the Seljuk side in the Battle of Köse Dağ. In the autumn 1244, Yisaur concentrated the Mongol forces in the upper Tigris valley where they subjugated the Kurdish province of Akhlat, moving across, the Mongolian army encountered no resistance and ravaged the area en route. The fortified cities were untaken in his advance because Yisaur was not prepared for siege assault, passing through the territory of the city of Urfa, he crossed the Euphrates. He marched directly to Aleppo but went as far as Hailan before the climate impaired his armys movements, Yisaur sent envoys to Aleppo to demand submission of tribute, which Malik agreed to pay. The same demand were sent to Bohemond of Antioch who chose not to them instead of defiance. Yisaur withdrew his force back up the Euphrates valley and received the submission of Malatia, in Egypt, Sultan Saleeh decided to acquiesce to the results and made no attempt to raise an army to encounter the Mongols who had invaded his dominions in Syria. In 1251, as an expediency to buy peace, Sultan Nasir sent his representatives to Mongolia for the election of Möngke, in 1255 Hulagu sought to further expand the Empire into the Middle East under orders from his older brother, the Great Khan Möngke. Hulagus forces subjugated multiple peoples along the way, most notably the center of the Islamic Empire, Baghdad, from there, the Mongol forces proceeded into Syria. In 1260, Egypt was under the control of the Bahri Mamluks, the last Ayyubid king, An-Nasir Yusuf, was captured by the Mongols near Gaza in 1260. However, Hulagu promised him that he would appoint An-Nasir Yusuf as his viceroy in Syria, with the Islamic power center of Baghdad and Syria gone, the center of Islamic power transferred to the Mamluks in Cairo. Hulagus intention at that point was to continue south through Palestine to Egypt, however, Möngke died in late 1259, requiring Hulagu to return to Karakorum to engage in the councils on who the next Great Khan would be. Hulagu departed with the bulk of his forces, leaving only about 10,000 Mongol horsemen in Syria under Kitbuqa, some of Kitbuqas forces engaged in raids southwards towards Egypt, reaching as far as Gaza, where a Mongol garrison was established with 1,000 troops. The Mamluks achieved a victory, Kitbuqa was executed. In previous defeats, the Mongols had always returned later to re-take the territory, the border of the Mongol Ilkhanate remained at the Tigris River for the duration of Hulagus dynasty

32.
Mongol raids into Palestine
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Mongol raids into Palestine took place towards the end of the Crusades, following the temporarily successful Mongol invasions of Syria, primarily in 1260 and 1300. Following each of these invasions, there existed a period of a few months during which the Mongols were able to launch raids southward into Palestine, the raids were executed by a relatively small part of the Mongol army, which proceeded to loot, kill, and destroy. The Mongols took the city of Aleppo, and on March 1,1260, they conquered Damascus, with the Islamic power centres of Baghdad and Damascus gone, Cairo, under the Mamluks, became the centre of Islamic power. The Mongols probably would have continued their advance on through Palestine towards Egypt, hulagu departed with the bulk of his forces, leaving only about 10,000 Mongol horsemen in Syria under his Nestorian Christian general Kitbuqa, to occupy the conquered territory. A Mongol garrison, of about 1,000, was placed in Gaza, the devastation of this raid on the Samaritan community of Nablus is recorded in the Tolidah. Many men, women and children were killed and ׳Uzzī, son of the High Priest ׳Amram ben Itamar, was captured and he was later ransomed by the community. Hulagu also sent a message to King Louis IX of France, however, modern historians believe that though Jerusalem may have been subject to at least one Mongol raid during this time, that it was not otherwise occupied or formally conquered. At the time, the Franks appear to have regarded the Mongols as a threat than the Muslims. The Mamluks achieved a victory, which was important for the region. It became the mark for the Mongol conquests, as after this battle, even if he Mongols would again attempt several invasions of Syria. Even then, they again they would hold territory for only a few months, when the Mongol general Kitbuqa sent his nephew with a small force to obtain redress, they were ambushed and killed by Julian. Kitbuqa responded forcefully by raiding the city of Sidon, destroying walls and slaying Christians although it is said that the castle remained untaken. In 1269, the English Prince Edward, inspired by tales of his uncle, Richard the Lionheart and the Second Crusade of the French king, Louis VII, started on a crusade of his own, the Ninth Crusade. Many of the members of Edwards expedition were close friends and family, including his wife Eleanor of Castile, his brother Edmund, when Edward finally arrived in Acre on May 9,1271, he immediately sent an embassy to the Mongol ruler Abaqa. Edwards plan was to use the help of the Mongols to attack the Muslim leader Baibars, the embassy was led by Reginald Russel, Godefrey Welles and John Parker. Abaqa answered positively to Edwards request in a letter dated September 4,1271, and they killed all the Sarazins they found. In mid-October 1271, the Mongol troops requested by Edward arrived in Syria, the Mongols defeated the Turcoman troops that protected Aleppo, putting to flight the Mamluk garrison in that city, and continued their advance to Maarat an-Numan and Apamea. When Baibars mounted a counteroffensive from Egypt on November 12, the Mongols had already retreated beyond the Euphrates, unable to face the full Mamluk army

33.
Battle of Ain Jalut
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The Battle of Ain Jalut took place on 3 September 1260 between Muslim Mamluks and the Mongols in the southeastern Galilee, in the Jezreel Valley, not far from the site of Zirin. The battle marked the south-westernmost extent of Mongol conquests, and was the first time a Mongol advance had been permanently halted. This was blamed on the death of the then-Khagan Möngke Khan. This left Hulagus lieutenant, Kitbuga, with only a detachment of soldiers. When Möngke Khan became Great Khan in 1251, he set out to implement his grandfather Genghis Khans plan for world empire. To lead the task of subduing the nations of the West, he selected his brother, another of Genghis Khans grandsons, assembling the army took five years, and it was not until 1256 that Hulagu was prepared to begin the invasions. Operating from the Mongol base in Persia, Hulagu proceeded south, Möngke Khan had ordered good treatment for those who yielded without resistance, and destruction for those who did not. In this way Hulagu and his army had conquered some of the most powerful, other countries in the Mongols path submitted to Mongol authority, and contributed forces to the Mongol army. By the time that the Mongols reached Baghdad, their army included Cilician Armenians, the Hashshashin in Persia fell, the 500-year-old Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad was destroyed, and so too fell the Ayyubid dynasty in Damascus. Hulagus plan was to then proceed southwards through the Kingdom of Jerusalem towards the Mamluk Sultanate, in 1260, Hulagu sent envoys to Qutuz in Cairo, demanding his surrender, From the King of Kings of the East and West, the Great Khan. To Qutuz the Mamluk, who fled to escape our swords and you should think of what happened to other countries and submit to us. You have heard how we have conquered a vast empire and have purified the earth of the disorders that tainted it and we have conquered vast areas, massacring all the people. You cannot escape from the terror of our armies, what road will you use to escape us. Our horses are swift, our arrows sharp, our swords like thunderbolts, our hearts as hard as the mountains, fortresses will not detain us, nor armies stop us. Your prayers to God will not avail against us and we are not moved by tears nor touched by lamentations. Only those who beg our protection will be safe, hasten your reply before the fire of war is kindled. Resist and you suffer the most terrible catastrophes. We will shatter your mosques and reveal the weakness of your God and then will kill your children, at present you are the only enemy against whom we have to march

Prince Michael of Chernigov was passed between fires in accordance with ancient Turco-Mongol tradition. Batu Khan ordered him to prostrate himself before the tablets of Genghis Khan. The Mongols stabbed him to death for his refusal to do obeisance to Genghis Khan's shrine.